A Neutron Time-Of-Flight System For Inertial Confinement Fusion

A neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) system has been implemented at the largest laser facility in China. The nTOF system is used to measure neutron spectra in inertial confinement fusion experiments. The nTOF system consists of 11 fast plastic scintillation detectors. The detectors employed three designs to measure neutron yield, ion temperature, and neutron bang time. The nTOF system is capable of measuring the primary neutron yield from 10(7) to 10(13), secondary DT neutron yield from 10(6) to 10(8), and ion temperature and neutron bang time yields from 10(8) to 10(13). The accuracies of the nTOF system are about 10% for neutron yield and ion temperature measurements and better than 60 ps for neutron bang time measurements. The nTOF system has become one of the most important diagnostics for implosions, and it is used for more than 200 shots per year.